打水漂
dǎ shuǐ piāo
Pinyin

Definition

打水漂
 - 
dǎ shuǐ piāo
  1. to skip stones (on water)
  2. (coll.) to squander one's money on a bad investment

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

打
dá
  1. 1 dozen (loanword)
打算
dǎ suàn
  1. 1 to plan
  2. 2 to intend
  3. 3 to calculate
  4. 4 plan
  5. 5 intention
  6. 6 calculation
  7. 7 CL:個|个[gè]
打开
dǎ kāi
  1. 1 to open
  2. 2 to show (a ticket)
  3. 3 to turn on
  4. 4 to switch on
水
Shuǐ
  1. 1 surname Shui
水果
shuǐ guǒ
  1. 1 fruit
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
水瓶座
Shuǐ píng zuò
  1. 1 Aquarius (constellation and sign of the zodiac)
漂亮
piào liang
  1. 1 pretty
  2. 2 beautiful
一网打尽
yī wǎng dǎ jìn
  1. 1 lit. to catch everything in the one net (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to scoop up the whole lot
  3. 3 to capture them all in one go
一头雾水
yī tóu wù shuǐ
  1. 1 to be confused
  2. 2 to be baffled
下水
xià shuǐ
  1. 1 downstream
  2. 2 to go into the water
  3. 3 to put into water
  4. 4 to launch (a ship)
  5. 5 fig. to fall into bad ways
  6. 6 to lead astray
  7. 7 to go to pot
下水道
xià shuǐ dào
  1. 1 sewer
冰水
bīng shuǐ
  1. 1 iced water
冷水
lěng shuǐ
  1. 1 cold water
  2. 2 unboiled water
  3. 3 fig. not yet ready (of plans)
化妆水
huà zhuāng shuǐ
  1. 1 skin toner
口水
kǒu shuǐ
  1. 1 saliva
墨水
mò shuǐ
  1. 1 ink
  2. 2 CL:瓶[píng]
山水
Shān shuǐ
  1. 1 Sansui, Japanese company
打下
dǎ xià
  1. 1 to lay (a foundation)
  2. 2 to conquer (a city etc)
  3. 3 to shoot down (a bird etc)
打交道
dǎ jiāo dào
  1. 1 to come into contact with
  2. 2 to have dealings
打仗
dǎ zhàng
  1. 1 to fight a battle
  2. 2 to go to war

Idioms (20)

一清如水
yī qīng rú shuǐ
  1. 1 lit. as clear as water (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. (of officials etc) honest and incorruptible
一炮打响
yī pào dǎ xiǎng
  1. 1 to win instant success (idiom)
  2. 2 to start off successfully
一碗水端平
yī wǎn shuǐ duān píng
  1. 1 lit. to hold a bowl of water level (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to be impartial
一网打尽
yī wǎng dǎ jìn
  1. 1 lit. to catch everything in the one net (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to scoop up the whole lot
  3. 3 to capture them all in one go
一点水一个泡
yī diǎn shuǐ yī gè pào
  1. 1 honest and trustworthy (idiom)
三个和尚没水喝
sān gè hé shang méi shuǐ hē
  1. 1 lit. three monks have no water to drink (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. everybody's business is nobody's business
  3. 3 (If there is one monk, he will fetch water for himself. If there are two, they will fetch water together. But if there are three or more, none will take it upon himself to fetch water.)
三天不打，上房揭瓦
sān tiān bù dǎ , shàng fáng jiē wǎ
  1. 1 three days without a beating, and a child will scale the roof to rip the tiles (idiom)
  2. 2 spare the rod, spoil the child
不打不成器
bù dǎ bù chéng qì
  1. 1 spare the rod and spoil the child (idiom)
不打不成才
bù dǎ bù chéng cái
  1. 1 spare the rod and spoil the child (idiom)
不打不成相识
bù dǎ bù chéng xiāng shí
  1. 1 don't fight, won't make friends (idiom); an exchange of blows may lead to friendship
不打不相识
bù dǎ bù xiāng shí
  1. 1 lit. don't fight, won't make friends (idiom); an exchange of blows may lead to friendship
  2. 2 no discord, no concord
不显山不露水
bù xiǎn shān bù lù shuǐ
  1. 1 lit. to not show the mountain and to not reveal the water (idiom); fig. to hide the key facts
干打雷，不下雨
gān dǎ léi , bù xià yǔ
  1. 1 all thunder but no rain (idiom)
  2. 2 a lot of noise but no action
人不可貌相，海水不可斗量
rén bù kě mào xiàng , hǎi shuǐ bù kě dǒu liáng
  1. 1 you can't judge a person by appearance, just as you can't measure the sea with a pint pot (idiom)
人往高处走，水往低处流
rén wǎng gāo chù zǒu , shuǐ wǎng dī chù liú
  1. 1 man seeks his way up just as water seeks its way down (idiom)
  2. 2 one should constantly strive to make progress
似水年华
sì shuǐ nián huá
  1. 1 fleeting years (idiom)
倒打一耙
dào dǎ yī pá
  1. 1 lit. to strike with a muckrake (idiom), cf Pigsy 豬八戒|猪八戒 in Journey to the West 西遊記|西游记; fig. to counterattack
  2. 2 to make bogus accusations (against one's victim)
兵来将挡，水来土掩
bīng lái jiàng dǎng , shuǐ lái tǔ yǎn
  1. 1 counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir (idiom); different situations call for different action
  2. 2 to adopt measures appropriate to the actual situation
兵来将敌，水来土堰
bīng lái jiàng dí , shuǐ lái tǔ yàn
  1. 1 counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir (idiom); different situations call for different action
  2. 2 to adopt measures appropriate to the actual situation
出水芙蓉
chū shuǐ fú róng
  1. 1 as a lotus flower breaking the surface (idiom); surpassingly beautiful (of young lady's face or old gentleman's calligraphy)

Sample Sentences

过场也要走。我跟你爸，包括你们，红包不知道花出去多少了，你们不办婚礼，礼金不就打水漂了？
guòchǎng yě yào zǒu 。wǒ gēn nǐ bà ，bāokuò nǐmen ，hóngbāo bù zhīdào huā chūqù duōshao le ，nǐmen bù bàn hūnlǐ ，lǐjīn bù jiù dǎshuǐpiāo le ？
It's a formality that still needs to be carried out. Your father and I, and you guys too, have given out who knows how many red envelopes. If you don't have a wedding, you can't get any of that money back.
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